Battery life

[Wemustrv]

We store our motorhome in the winter and in Iowa it can get to -30 or colder with -104 degree wind chill this would not be a good setting for LFP unless powered up or a good trickle charger. We do keep ours powered up however if we had a power failure in this weather the LFP batteries would be toast.

 

[Joe Hogan]

possibly the battery has a good BMS (battery management system) that will warm the battery pack during charge cycles. A thermal barrier, blanket, insulation bats, etc and a small heat source like a light bulb in a confined area might help as well.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

We store our motorhome in the winter and in Iowa it can get to -30 or colder with -104 degree wind chill this would not be a good setting for LFP unless powered up or a good trickle charger. We do keep ours powered up however if we had a power failure in this weather the LFP batteries would be toast.

Sitting is not the problem, charging is. There is nothing to freeze, but charging under your stated conditions could burn the place down.

 

[TheLooks]

And no one mentioned the cost of LiPo....

 

[Kevin D Pem]

And no one mentioned the cost of LiPo....

I believe comparable to other tech.

 

[Travelskip]

Well, the cost of a LFP (not Lipo) battery are negligible.
Absolute no maintenance. They are probably good for 10 or more years, have less weight, much better Amp to weight ratio, don’t need an extra battery compartment, no gases, no smell and no worries about overcharging, overdischarging etc. The internal BMS takes care of this. The good ones have also an active balancer.
Last year we did not use our camper and the LFP battery was still at 13.2V, almost the same when we left it.
I did some maintenance during the year, needed some light and had to move the slide outs several times. Still at 13.2V
Since there is no power at the RV storage there was no trickle charger and no charging in between.

 

[TheLooks]

Well, the cost of a LFP (not Lipo) battery are negligible.
Absolute no maintenance. They are probably good for 10 or more years, have less weight, much better Amp to weight ratio, don’t need an extra battery compartment, no gases, no smell and no worries about overcharging, overdischarging etc. The internal BMS takes care of this. The good ones have also an active balancer.
Last year we did not use our camper and the LFP battery was still at 13.2V, almost the same when we left it.
I did some maintenance during the year, needed some light and had to move the slide outs several times. Still at 13.2V
Since there is no power at the RV storage there was no trickle charger and no charging in between.

Well that was pretty smug, I am well aware of the difference. I agree with all the positives, but your statement about cost being negligible is laughable. The solar install at school used 8 batteries at $1700 each. I can buy a lot of lead acid type batteries for $1700. In fact, they are more expensive now with inflation and etc. happening in the economy.

 

[Travelskip]

Well that was pretty smug, I am well aware of the difference. I agree with all the positives, but your statement about cost being negligible is laughable. The solar install at school used 8 batteries at $1700 each. I can buy a lot of lead acid type batteries for $1700. In fact, they are more expensive now with inflation and etc. happening in the economy.

Poor wording from my side, I agree.
I just wanted to express, that avoiding all the hassle with lead acid batteries is well worth it.
For me, not having to worry about it and having this maintenance-free long life expectancy, is worth the extra expenses.
Just another example for the use of LFPs:
Did I mention, that we live in FL and the power is not very reliable?
I have 4 x 100Ah cells mounted under my desk at home together with an AIMS 1000W converter.
That gives me enough power to run 2 iMacs, one notebook, an extra monitor, the internet router and Wi-Fi plus some lights . . . For about 5+ hours.
Oh, and I drilled a hole through the wall and power also my wife’s computer and a light with those batteries.
You can not do this with lead acid. Smell, gases and crouching underneath and checking the water level etc. etc. And a lead acid would require double the size and has much more weight.

 

[TheLooks]

Someone with a definable need is not the same as your average camper.

 

[Rich W.]

I have ample access to good used Li-ion cells from various electric cars (mainly Nissan, but also others as experimentation continues) and could build a very nice 20+kwh battery for my coach, run an 8kw 48v Victron inverter and power both ACs, etc, etc, etc. I did it before with around 10 kwh and a 24v 3kw Victron inverter, and solar of course, so it can be done, at a fairly reasonable cost.

But somewhere along the line for a variety of reasons (not the least of which is the degree of lawlessness our society is experiencing) I decided boondocking no longer suits my RVing style, and all the big lithium/big inverter stuff was becoming nothing more than just an expensive hobby - more to prove it could be done than out of any actual need (a very relative concept to be sure).

So my next house battery replacement will be six rather large AGMs which will of course never run an AC (or not for very long anyway) but will run everything else for a little longer than what I would normally anticipate as needed. A little margin is always nice. These days that will be good enough and AGM batteries being completely sealed, truly maintenance free, and non-venting, will also suit my maintenance schedule rather well.

Six of these: GPL-6CT AGM Battery - Lifeline Batteries will probably do the job very nicely and I have more than enough clearance for their 13” height. If I ditch my 32 gal. propane tank (which I also do not need) I’ll have space for even more batteries and still have room for more junk to haul around with me. The only real benefit I see from lithiums at this point is the weight/space savings, and I don’t need either.

As for LiFePO4 batteries, they would fit in the same space as my current batteries and would provide almost as much benefit as Li-ion, and they have their advantages as well (allowable discharge, life in charge cycles, 12 volt packages (well 14.4v) readily avail, etc), but I don’t have access to any at what I consider a reasonable price, and they don’t seem to provide any real space savings, and as I said, I don’t really need the weight savings. So….next time, AGMs.

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